With over 20 years of experience covering the Steelers for the Observer-Reporter, Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop. Dale can also be heard on the Steelers radio network pre-game show on WDVE-FM game days and Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. on ESPN 970-AM and WDVE during the season as a host of the Antonio Brown Show. Follow him on Twitter at @dlolleyor

The thinking is that at this point in his career, McFadden is what he is. He's not going to get any better. And what he is right now is adequate.

But would the defense be any worse off with, say, Keenan Lewis in the starting lineup opposite Ike Taylor?

At least there is the opportunity that Lewis could still get better.

And with a number of young corners on the roster who the Steelers don't want to give up on, it may not make sense to keep McFadden and his higher salary hit and take the chance on somebody signing Crezdon Butler or Cortez Allen if they are released.

36 comments:

Dale I thought the deal was 50 million? that's what I see everywhere but here

anyway, IF they cut McFadden it's because they are confident in the young guys, namely Lewis. If he's gone I'll gladly accept it cause we can keep more young guys and make them have an impact immediately

Dale, really appreciate the blog and enjoy the banter in the comments. Have enjoyed your reporting in the O-R for many years. Keep up the good work! (Would love to see more hunting/fishing articles from you.)

I think everyone should have to compete for their job to start, particularly Chris K. and B. McFadden. BMac has been dinged up a lot and played below the line this past year as well as being dinged up a lot. I'd much rather cut Willie Gay, but Gay isn't the one with a $2.5M base salary this year.

The Ravens are going all out to beat the Steelers this year by signing McKinney and dealing for Lee Evans. I think both are good moves for them, but I still like the way the Steelers do it. Draft'em, get'em good or get'em gone.

Long Time admirer and reader of this blog but I'm getting tired of all the anonymous and imitation Patrick's trolling here. May I suggest the real Patrick change his name and the rest of us ignore the trolls. I have seen this on other blogs and if you don't feed them they eventually do go away

Us homer Steelers fans have been asking for a fullback since Krieder left and with completely baseless homerism have been waiting for guys like Frank Summers, Doug Legursky, and that D lineman that was converted to offense a few years ago, to fulfill our dream of "smash mouth football" despite the fact we have a franchise QB who routinely leads us on game winning drives.

Starks could be the answer.

What about Lendale White as the answer for our goal line back? Ever since he ballooned to over 250 lbs and become a complete failure he appears to be on the up and up. They key is he is fat and plays RB and thats obviously what we need.

just wanted to add another dumb comment like everyone else. K thx, bye.

If that's you, I sympathize with you about everyone making fun of you. It's not nice, and it's not fun for me to have to sift out all that crap with my brain.

That said, you are totally wrong on this one. Clown Patrick's question is at least partially legit. There's an argument to be made for a KOS. Even though Suisham can get it 7 yards deep now, that might turn into 1 yard deep in December. That'd mean a large portion of the season where our kickoff team is exposed. I wouldn't make the move myself, but it's a legitimate opinion, and I'm going to respect it at least enough to not call the guy a retarded loser. Maybe you don't like that he didn't use a name (I'm thinking he meant Waters), or maybe you don't like that he suggested a long-term deal. I think he might have just been going for some kind of alliteration. long long kicking kicker. It sounds funny. I'm guessing you thought he was just wasting time for the fun of it, because no one could be that stupid, or maybe he was making some kind of indirect jab at you. All of those are possibilities, but you know what? WHO CARES? Have you ever thought about why they pick on you? It's because of your general arrogance, which is so strong it frickin' transfers through the internet. So they pick on you. What do you do about it? Whine. That's understandable. After all, lots of people are pricks, but most of them don't get (oh no!) teased online about it. Then what do you do? Seek advice? Whether you were seeking it or not, about 50 people have told you to ignore it and let it go away. Do you take that advice? No, you whine some more, each and every time. You fire back insults and complain to Dale for letting him play too. You criticize his blog and the way he runs it, and then expect him to do what you want. Then when somebody makes a Steeler related comment that you don't think is up to YOUR standards, you go beyond whining and throw a hissy fit like a damn 5 year old. You are a joke, and your inability or refusal to understand human beings on a basic level has finally driven you lower than the timewasters that come on here just to make fun of you. Congratulations.

Hey Dale,

I'm all for McFadden getting bumped back if someone steps up and outplays him, but wouldn't it be overkill to cut him based on the promise of some mid-round picks? I love Brown, but we don't have a great track record there. Shouldn't we wait for someone to actually play better than McFadden before we cut him? I'm not sure Lewis' two or three good plays qualifies. And heck, I'd make two or three guys leapfrog him before I cut him. If it's a money thing, I Foote could easily go first. He makes way too much and doesn't contribute anymore than Sylvester could in his place. Thanks.

Keep in mind that all those kick-offs into the endzone are being done in warm, summer weather. It's like that every pre- and early season. Even Jeff Reed kicked ball into and out of the endzone. When it's outdoors and cold in Nov, Dec and Jan, those kick-offs won't be going deep, if at all, into the endzone.

Tim I wasn't going to respond to your partial thesis because you start by believing that first comment was serious. And then you go to basically admit its nothing but bs aimed at me.

But what I really don't get is this:

"Then when somebody makes a Steeler related comment that you don't think is up to YOUR standards, you go beyond whining and throw a hissy fit like a damn 5 year old."

When have I done that? I try to just banter and argue with the legit posters, but then I have these idiots with constant "you're an idiot posts" and they contribute nothing at all.

My only criticism of Dale's blog is that he lets those comments go on and they serve no purpose. Otherwise I respect his work and maybe I don't agree with him all the time, but thats the point of a blog and comments.

Not senseless wastes of time which has become about 60% of the comments, unfortunately.

I have been reading this blog and the comments for years now. There used to be some insightful opinions in the comments. Blog is still great but the comments are unbearable anymore. I hardly ever comment and when I do, it is as anonymous. It doesn’t matter who has a username and who doesn’t. If it’s a good comment, it’s a good comment. I can't stand the bickering, doesn’t matter who started what, its just annoying for everyone else...I am kind of upset with myself that I am even commenting about this. Patrick and all the anti-Patricks, I wish all of you would go away or stop commenting. But you won't.

This is a great blog site. I used to comment here quite often but now I typically dont even read the comments section. Patrick - the reason you are getting picked on is because many of your comments show how little you know about football. Unfortunately, instead of ignoring your comments like most people do, a small group of people decide to target you for fun. Maybe you should comment less untill you learn more about the game of football

marc, frankly, I think the move up to the 35 will make ST coaches start to have their kickers practice the high, long hang time kicks the carry between the goal line and 5. The heck with giving the ball to the opponent at the 20, I'd be using that extra 5 yards closer to try and pin them inside the 10 or 15.

absolutely correct, Eric. The running start was shortened as part of the rule change and I believe I read somewhere special teams coaches already commented on how they are not interested in gambling and trying to pin someone inside the 15.

as a good example, do you see cundiff for the ravens trying to sky the ball and pin someone deep? nope. he drills it thru the back of the endzone every chance he gets.

eliminate the uncertainty. if you gave a ST coach the option of giving the team the ball on the 20 or taking a chance to tackle the returner inside the 15, they would take the 20 every single time.

Hey, Dale. I was wondering about the status of Mario Harvey. You had reported a few times about his progress in camp, and I feel like I have not seen him play in either of the first two preseason games. Is he injured? If memory serves me correctly, Sylvester and Ivy have been getting the majority of the backup work at ILB. I think Carter may have played some against the 'Skins.

Please don't get me wrong though. Ivy, especially as a local player, has me feeling good about our more youthful depth at ILB.